GONSKI or no Gonski, the following should be necessary and scripted learning directions.

[* They need to start early in school life.]

* The teaching of LISTENING skills.

* The development eye contact.

* The development of manners, deportment, politeness, respect.

* The focus on looking after goods and personal possessions.

* Focus on speaking skills and the correct enunciation of words.

* Teaching times tables by rote.

* Teaching children the rudiments of handwriting including legibility.

* “How to hold a writing tool skilfully and comfortably”.

* Focus on respect for others and for self.

* Teaching and practising rthe importance of silence.

* Focus on correct word usage, not banalities and profanities.

I could go on.

The guts and the essence of character development, Gonski or no Gonski should happen and be prescriptive.

That may be hard when a lot of newer teachers who have not had the benefit of this teaching as students, find what I have written to be totally foreign.

Gonski or no Gonski, education is ever progressing south into theunderside of mediocrity.

The midsemester holiday break has just started in the Northern Territory. It coincides in an approximate sense with the second semester break period happening in other schools around Australia. I really do hope that everybody connected with education has the opportunity for a good rest, relaxing time, reflecting time, and it and a time that allows people to refresh and to ready for term for. The next term is the business end of the year, the culmination toward which each term is directed . It’s like the fourth quarter of Australian rules football game.

We hear a lot about student indifference and educational challenges. The truth of the matter is that the majority of our students work hard and do their very best at all times. They are supported by teachers and school staff members who go to great lengths to ensure the provision of a quality education.

Step back and relax for time away from what sometimes referred to as the “cold face” is important.

As a retired school principal I’d like to wish everybody the very very best for downtime and then the same in bounteous measure for the final term of the 2019 school year.

A story on radio 104.9 on September 25 covered interaction happening between Gateways Shopping Centre and some of the schools in Palmerston. That brought back memories of those school/shopping centre interactions that used to occur in Darwin but have been discontinued.

There was a time back in the 1980s and well into 1990s when Casuarina Shopping Square had a similar arrangement with nearby schools and a lot of genuine community sharing went on. Hibiscus shopping centre also had a similar program.

As a participating school principal in both ventures I was very sad when these interactions were discontinued by more “modern day management“

Our projects included engagement with the cinemas, static work displays, and interaction by choirs and school bands.

This created an “win – win“ situation. It gave a great deal of free advertising to shopping centres and brought lots of parents and members of the community into those centres to view displays and to watch children performing.

I remain unsure to this day why it was for these programs and this level of engagement was allowed to lapse. “Modern day management” again – and that is not always the best management platform!

I’m glad Gateways has a sense of community and wonder how long that will last.

SCHOOL BASED POLICING THE WAY TO GO!

Great news for the Northern Territory! It’s now 12 months since School Based Police were re-introduced to Northern Territory Schools. That reintroduction would never have taken place, had it not been for pressures exerted by some educators and by the Council of Government Schools Organisation (COGSO).

This program, initially introduced in the 1980s, was quite outstandingly successful up to that point in time when it was dropped. That was a very poor decision, one made against the grain of expressed Northern Territory opinion.

There were various reasons the program was discontinued or at least allowed to run down. I won’t go into those at the moment, other than to restate the decision to have been one of sad consequence.

Reinstating the program means that it has had to start all over and rebuild the confidence schools in the community had in school-based police before the program is dropped. There was some tentative nice about reintroduction but sense and sensibility prevailed.

Twelve months on from its reintroduction there has been an evaluation done on the program. It has been given the thumbs up, the green light and hopefully will stay in place and expand further with the passing of time.

I most sincerely hope it’s never canned again.

Chief Minister, the person developing your Linked In account where comments under the leader’s banner are shared with readers, often waxes lyrical about our progress and accomplishments.

In reality, it is often hard to see those ‘best outcomes’ for the Territory. One of your government’s biggest needs is to learn lessons from history, studying issues that have gone before and considering outcomes that have lead us to the present situations we confront.

As as long term Territorian who arrived in 1975, I have raised thoughts with the Chief Minister’s Department. Warm reception to some of my thoughts then became lukewarm before achieving cold water status. I was told it would not be possible to make an appointment to see you – ever – because you have a “punishing diary”.

Allow me to share some thoughts, which you probably will not see because you do not actually compose the copy that goes onto this site.

• We have lost manufacturing industries. Inpex has been a winner and is often canned quite unjustifiably for the good it has brought and continues to bring. But it is our small manufacturing and industrial industries that are on Struggle Street, with many having closed and gone.

• We have lost service providers in great numbers. Providers across a range of areas from building, electrical and plumbing to catering and restauranters.

• We have introduced massive red tape and bragged about minimal and periodic easing of paperwork accountabilities. Government departments and instrumentalities are overwhelmed with paperwork accountability and justification. Too many people have to guard their backs ands keep a close eye on the mirror to see they are up to speed. They are fearful rather than trustful, unsure rather than confident. They feel insecure in their appointments.

• The pastoral industry is unsure of futures with everything from water licensing to fracking confronting their immediate and intermediate futures.

• The development of Darwin’s hinterland is fraught. On the one hand the number of small holdings is growing and the rural population is on the rise. On the other side of the equation are diminished water resources and an ominous lowering of water levels within the aquifer system.

• We have a level of government debt that is out of control and a credit rating that gives rise to alarm. We endorse greater and greater percentages of our Territory GDP being spent on offsetting interest accumulating on government borrowings. A daily interest bill north of $100,000,000 per day is mind-blowing stuff!

• There is an over focus on visions for the development of Darwin’s CBD that defies the realities of city centre limitations. Every government perpetuates the myth that the city centre should be a jewel of the north. At the same time our older suburbs are unkempt, run-down and deteriorating at an alarming rate. Streetscapes that were the pride and joy of government and the municipality are now suffering for want of care.

• Infrastructural projects are approved at a giddying rate and project after project replaces those which are completed. But care and maintenance of existing facilities is largely ignored meaning that facilities costing multiple millions often have a short life expectancy.

• Tourists and visitors are deemed to be more important than long term territory residents. A great number of the attractions trotted out to attract and entertain them, are shallow and gimmicky.

• Crime is a major social growth industry with huge impacts upon the NT. While our police force – for mine the best in the nation – does a great job in control, the court system is limp wristed at best with punishments being unrealistically light. Our community is increasingly being held to ransom by the aberrant, delinquent behaviour of far too many young and not so young people, who are often recidivist offenders. Government reaction is to try and shy away from these issues rather than confronting them in a full on manner. These matters cannot be treated by sliding around the issues of crime.

• Government dreams big and is helped with developing its vision by as plethora of advisers and others who inhabit the fifth floor of Parliament House and who control many of the top jobs in key departments. But in reality we are confronting a tattered economy and a fractured economic and social outlook.

When the NT with its brand new self styled government assumed responsibility for education in 1979, we were offered a special challenge by our visionary education secretary. His name was Jim Eedle (Dr Jim) and he challenged us with a new reality.

“Schools are for children” he told we principals at a Katherine Conference in March 1979.

“Educational structure should always serve function, that being the education of children”, he said.

Metaphorically, he likened the “coming” of the Northern Territory Educational System as being likened to a rising sun.

How sad it is that in so many ways structure is now paramount and often so grandiose an skyscraper like that function is left well behind. In fact, one sometimes wonders what the function of education happens to be these days.

In metaphoric terms how sad it is that in so many ways the rising sun of the developing system has gone behind the clouds and at best is penumbric.

Northern Territory Education is nothing like the system it was when first moated all those years ago. While some changes may have been good, many have discounted the important elements of white meaningful education and proper student development should be all about.

The NT News this week is running a series of articles on NT. Schools that have to do with enrolments, pup[il/teacher ratios and schools gaining or schools losing students. The columns have drawn on information available from AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching and School). The full details of all schools in the NT under these headings are available on the NT News online platform. Both government and private schools along with the geographical location of all schools have been considered.

In overall terms our pupil to teacher ratios look rosy. They are predicated on the number of students on the roll divided by the number of full time teacher equivalents on staff. However, it does not take into account that many full time teachers do not have their own classes. They offer specialist services (Art, PE, Languages, Music) to the whole school so do not have their own full time dedicated classroom groups. This means that full time classroom teachers have many more students to teach than statistics might imply.

The rather ad hoc rules and attitudes prevailing in relation to attendance in Indigenous Schools is also a detractor.

Principals of government schools do not have the same rights to exclude or expel students as is provided for their counterparts in public schools. This can play on school health and organisational well being.

This can also be a reason for parents taking students from government schools and enrolling in private schools. That is because the teaching time in government schools can be substantially disrupted by teachers having to work on student control, discipline and management.

Fees charged by private schools can mean some students who are in government schools are there for financial rather than preferential reasons. These students can sometimes be reluctant and reflect a resentment that it is for reasons of finance that they are part of the public system.

The NT News columns are interesting and informative. This post is aimed at covering some background elements that may impact upon the offered revelations.

Some government departments recognise and appreciate long term service offered by employees. This happens with Police, Fire and Emergency Services. The Health Department also recognises the length of service offered by employees.

Sadly, this recognition is not part of Department of Education (DoE) practice. The DoE employs several thousand people, many of whom are long term employees. They work in remote, rural and urban communities. Most are not recognised when service milestones are reached. Unless engaged at senior levels within the DoE, many on retirement are not recognised. For most, thanks upon retirement or departure after lengthy years of service is left to their schools or workplaces. For some there is little or no recognition at all.

This is an unfortunate state of affairs. When asking about reasons for this oversight and neglect in the past, I have been told that maintenance of service records would be too difficult to manage. While the task may have been difficult before the age of computerisation, it is hard to accept that management of service data would be a difficult task in 2017.

It should be relatively easy to enter DoE employees on a data base in a way that flags the history of their appointments, levels of service and length of time serving education. To recognise educators after 5 years and thereafter in service increments every five years, should not be difficult. Letters and certificates of thanks and appreciation can make all the difference to the way people feel about the work they are doing. For many teachers, periodic recognition is more heartwarming than their fortnightly salary payment.

There is a perception that teaching in the NT is a profession in which people are coming and going all the time. Decades ago, people would come for twelve months or two years and then return south. That is no longer the case and has not been the major system ‘habit’ for many years. There are a significant number of teachers who have spent the whole of their lengthy teaching careers in Northern Territory schools. The same is true for staff filling administrative and support positions in our schools. Appreciating and recognising these people should be an element of system practice.

Recognition does not have to be over the top in terms of cost. People appreciate intrinsic recognition and acknowledgement for a job well done. Appreciation is affirming and builds goodwill in the hearts and minds of the recipients.

A CLEAN SCHOOL IS FOR EVERYONE

Caring for school environments is the duty of all users. If care is not taken, classrooms, walkways, toilets and school yards can quickly become littered and grubby. Most schools emphasise the need for students to properly dispose of rubbish. There are rubbish bins inside classrooms and buildings and strategically located around school, in toilets as well as communal areas.

It can be extraordinarily difficult for schools to maintain a clean, litter free appearance. A drive past some schools, particularly late in the afternoon, reveals a scatter of paper, plastic cups and other rubbish. A proliferation of rubbish detracts from the grounds appearance, giving the impression that all students are litterers. That is true only of of a minority.

Awareness of the need for classroom organisation and tidiness should be part of student development. In many classrooms there is a roster, assigning students to specific tasks. They might include the following:

• Cleaning whiteboards

• Delivering and collecting notes from the office

• Taking lunch orders to the canteen

• Collecting lunch orders from the canteen

• Tidying shelves and classroom storage areas

• Giving out and collecting work books

• Collecting recyclable materials.

All students take responsibility for:

• Tidy desks and personal storage areas

• Stacking their chairs at the end of the day

• Disposing of food scraps and their own rubbish into bins

• Putting litter into outside bins

• Personal hygiene including toilet flushing and hand washing

• Using classroom bins rather than floors for pencil shavings and scraps of paper.

Some would argue that attitudes of cleanliness and tidiness should be automatic. However, recognising effort and rewarding enterprise can help reinforce personal and civic attitudes. Recognition of class responsibility for care and maintenance of school appearance might include the following:

• The awarding at assembly of a mascot that ‘visits’ the tidiest classroom until the next

assembly.

• Recognition of the class that looks after the verandahs and public areas adjacent.

• Giving small rewards to children caught ‘doing something good’ when it comes to environmental care.

• Presenting class or principal’s certificates to classes and children who always do the right thing when it comes to school and classroom appearance.

Schools have cleaning contracts. Contractors attend to daily and weekly cleaning together with a ‘spring clean’ during each long holiday period. However, it is up to students and those using the school to look after and take pride in their facilities. Along the way, habits of cleanliness and tidiness that should last a lifetime, are reinforced.

CONGRATULATIONS to Liz Veel, and to the student and staff community of Sanderson Middle School for the way in whichPrince Edward’s visit to that school was choreographed and managed yesterday. Media coverage in all formats was brilliant and illuminated this government school in a very positive light.

The program organised for the Prince’s visit compacted a lot of activity into a relatively short period of time. Without doubt His Highness would have had a great deal to contemplate, all of it positive, when he boarded his aircraft for a return to the UK.

I thought it great that students got to converse with the prince, and to take a leading role in the program put in place for his visit. Too often when it comes to official visits to schools, students tend to be offered a secondary role, with the prime focus being about the staff cohort. The way Ms Veel developed the day’s program is one others might accept as the way to shape a visit of this nature – and indeed any visit to one of our schools.

I am glad a government and not a private school was highlighted and that yesterday’s activities built a positive focus and confidence on Sanderson as a representative public school.

CART BEFORE THE HORSE IN LITERACY

Literacy exponents extol the virtues of reading and writing. These two disciplines are paramount when the subject is being discussed. It seems that success and understanding in the literacy domain depends on the abilities of students to read and write. Certainly it is the reading and writing elements of literacy that are appealed to during the NAPLAN testing regime.

How sad it is that listening and speaking are often overlooked as important components of literacy. Listening is the first element that comes into play and from the first day a child is born. From listening comes learning, the ability to comprehend and think.

Similarly but at a slightly later stage, speech develops and with it comes communication based on oral exchange.

It is the listening and speaking elements of literacy that are too often put at nought, with the focus going to treading and writing in almost a premature manner.

In short, there are four quadrants to literacy, all developing at different times but all important in developing literacy for and in children. Let’s not discount the first and second quadrants, listening and speaking, but accord to them the importance they deserve.

Minimising the significance of listening and speaking and focussing only on reading and writing is tantamount to putting the cart before the horse.

I’d be welling to bet pounds to peanut shells that the 2020 NAPLAN online program will be fraught with difficulties and challenges. Those challenges will manifest themselves during the peak time tests are being completed.

The pilots this year threw up a lot of difficult situations for trialling schools. Those difficulties were duplicated all over Australia. The ‘panacea’ of offering supplementary written tests for students who were fouled online was hardly a palatable alternative. Without doubt, many students would have thought of themselves as guinea pigs.

Silence NAPLAN was introduced in 2008, there have been pros and cons about the legitimacy and value of the testing regime. With the actual process of test administration via booklet and pencil reasonably settled, why was there a need to returned to the age of experimentation by going the online route. The need for mucking around with process does little to enhance the functionality of the tests.

I’ve heard that the online alternative will allow students to be given tests over a number of weeks rather than curtailment to the three May days that currently apply. Quite apart from the possibility of compromising the confidentiality of test questions, the agony of testing preoccupation will be stretched out over time for students and teachers.

And all this for what real gain other than playing around with students, their parents, schools and their teachers yet again.

The Practicality Vacuum

The most major blunder both historically and contemporarily in sending people to teach in remote communities, is a failure by authorities to equip them with the knowledge and understanding needed to handle altogether different living and working environments.

While some preparatory inservice may be offered, it is often by people within education departments who have had little or no experience of living and working in remote communities. The inservice usually has more to do with departmental expectation than covering issues to do with the personal and living needs of intending staff.

General Living Needs

* People going to remote communities need to know the status of local stores. What foods are sold, what clothes are carried, what other necessities are available for local purchase.

* Is the freight free perishable concession available to staff and their families.

* If so, in what condition do freight free perishables arrive in the community. Are goods home delivered or do they have to be collected from a community depot. Are staff notified when the goods arrive.

* Information about climatic conditions willassist in the choice of clothing, bedding and other household necessities.

* Are homes and the school on reticulated electricity, grid supplied power, or individual power generators. Is power 24/7 or limited. Are power outages frequent or irregular.

* Are local roads welcoming of conventional vehicles or is a four wheel drive unit necessary’

* Does the school have a vehicle and is it available to staff for business related or private use.

* The state of housing including available furniture, fittings and general condition of houses needs to be communicated. This includes knowledge of gardening and vegetable growing opportunities and the availability of water for irrigation.

* Is home (and school) maintenance the prerogative of the local community or are contractors flown in to handle these issues.

* In terms of communication, is internet available and reliable. Is there satellite coverage for communication and television. Are there costs to be borne by tenants or users for access.

* Be aware of banking and postal facilities. It can help to make contact with a preferred bank or credit society before leaving on appointment. In particular, check on the availability, reliability and cost of ATM services.

* Are homes secured by the use of crimsafe, door locking devices and CCTV in an ‘any’, ‘some’ or ‘none of these’ contexts.

* What is the community history in terms of break-ins to homes and school during the past five years. Has there been an increase or decrease in security breaches.

* Are homes and the school compound secured.

* Is the community ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ in terms of alcohol. Are there substance abuse issues.

* If the community is dry, are staff able to negotiate permits to bring in and consume alcohol in their own homes.

* Is there a police presence in the community. Is that a permanent or occasional presence. Is there a police station.

* Is there a health clinic and what are its operating hours. Do health Department staff include registered nurses and qualified Indigenous health professionals.

* Is there a resident or visiting doctor.

* Can counselling or psychological support services be engaged to meet needs of staff and school students if this is necessary.

* Is the community serviced by an all weather road and/or air access should medical evacuation be necessary.

Personnel

* Is there any pre-existing formal agreement that has been drawn up to cover the living and working expectations held by the community for staff. Does this include expectations held by teachers and other appointees for the way in which they will be regarded and treated within the community.

* Are there expectations held for or demands placed on teaching staff after hours and at weekends.

* Is it possible for staff to access town’s or regional centres during weekends by road or air. If by air, what are the costs associated with RPT (regular passenger transport) routes or airplane charter.

Other Essential Considerations

* Knowing HOW to teach is important. Will teachers be told if there is a better way of covering particular classroom issues. Do assistant teachers have the confidence to work with teachers in a team sense that covers this need.

* Teachers coming into communities need to understand the responsibility of modelling. History reveals that community leaders are keen for teachers to respect and to live according to their basic cultural precepts. To this end, the expectation is that teachers will live by their inherent cultural principles and not abrogate or water down these standards and expectations These things would include:

* Being time conscious and not cribbing on school day time expectations.

* Sticking to agreed school rules.

* Living by firm cultural principals of verbal respect and politeness.

* Speaking appropriately, using standard grammar and enunciation.

* Being a careful listener.

* Respecting Indigenous culture.

* Dress appropriately and respectfully; understand modest dress codes.

* Ensuring teachers have essentials before going to the community. Consider items like

* nail clippers,

* hair cutting scissors,

* sufficient comfortable clothing (serviceable and practical without being over the top fashion wear or ragged, torn and stained clothing),

* a good supply of underwear,

* hats,

* sunscreen,

* deodorants,

* insect repellent,

* shower accessories,

* items relating to personal hygiene,

* other personal essentials sufficient to meet basic needs.

* These will tide new staff over until they are able to ascertain the local availability of these and other essentials.

* Footwear, with a strong recommendation on practical, sturdy and protective shoes or light boots.

Practical Benefit Ideas

* Learning or knowing how to cook using tinned fruit and vegetables may well be an advantage. Tinned products are often more readily available than fresh produce. A concern about fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and meat can be its age and condition by the time it arrives in local stores.

* Knowing how to make bread, cook cakes and make biscuits can help.

* A frypan, bread making machine and croc pot are versatile and practical cooking aids.

* Having a contract person or business in a city or large regional town can help when it comes to organising necessities that may be in short supply or which become unavailable locally. With this would be an arrangement covering ordering and paying for goods.

Endpoint

These are some pointers that may well help those contemplating or preparing to work in remote communities. It is important for those going to teach in more remote schools to be well prepared for life and living in their new locations.

Henry Gray

September 13 2019

STORY THREE: THE REWARDING PIZZA MAN

One year after NAPLAN details had been released, I had a visit from a man who owned a pizza shop. I knew him but not well. He wanted to shake my hand and in so doing, congratulated me on the stand-out success achieved by our year five NAPLAN cohort. They had ‘earned’ green bands for NAPLAN outcomes at the year five level. That compared more than favourably with many other schools where results were red banded.

The pizza man wanted to revealed our year five students with a pizza lunch.

I thanked him but declined the specifics of his offer. In doing that, I told him that all our students did their very best including children in classes not undertaking the tests. They worked hard to live our school motto ‘together as one’. We would be happy to take him up on his offer if it was available to all our students rather than a select group identified on the basis of test results. That was the arrangement put into place.

.

What a Load of Old Rope

In the late 1980s, Principals participated in a discussion with the Public Service Commissioner about becoming contracted. On offer would be dollars, a car and the promise of executive importance.

Salary offers seemed huge in terms of quantum leap. Contracts would recognise the importance of “Principalship” and recompense the position accordingly. These employment agreements with enhanced remuneration would be four years long – which may have seemed like a stretch into the future!!!

But, with the invitation came non-negotiable positions. Contract Principals would unhinge from the public service with no fall-back position. They would be temporary employees facing the end-game when contracts came up for renewal. However, they felt reassured by conversations and believed that contract renewal might be almost automatic.

Principal’s cars were not add-ons but leasebacks with a salary contribution paying the lease but they came with “free” fuel card. It was the card that sold the option.

“Temporary Contract Principal’s employer benefits” were paid by employee contributions. So principals paid the employer’s contribution to their superannuation. It was no longer salary plus super but salary minus super. However this was touted as salary sacrifice so it was supposed to be good!!

Holiday entitlement changed. Twelve weeks (six on leave and six on stand down) was reduced to five before in more recent years being upgraded to six weeks of annual leave entitlement.

There have been changes by stealth: they are radical and un-negotiated. A major one from around 2006 on was the reduction of four-year contracts to 2 years +2 on extension after a substantial review. Principals performance management around which the review is based are very extensive.

There have been a number of instances in the Territory where Principals were told they formally satisfied Performance Management criteria, only to be shot down a short time later over matters touted as being about their incompetence or inability.

Elsewhere in Australia those in Principals positions retain permanency and a guaranteed baseline salary with extra performance being recognised by higher duty or allowance payments. This recognises the jobs they do but from the viewpoint of assured future positional opportunity. What they have is a fallback position which is about substantive, permanent occupancy. When accepting promotions they don’t have to resign permanent Public Sector positions.

In the Northern Territory, those accepting Executive Principal positions must resign from permanency with the Northern Territory Public Service.

I believe in hindsight that Northern Territory Principals were foolish to accept what are essentially non-guaranteed contracts..

With the passing of time, relativities have changed and contractual benefits have been eroded. “Shrinkage” means that the quantum between salaries paid to contract officers versus others has lessened. The extrinsic factors of benefit between contract and permanent positions have reduced. And at the same time intrinsic rewards (feelings of job satisfaction) have taken a deep dive.

The latest Gunner Government imposition was unheralded and a further attack upon any certainty principals feel about their employment. As temporary officers they have been placed under severe duress by the government’s edict that increments for executive contract holders will be frozen for three years. They have been ordered to sign away their entitlements to recognition as front line people working with students, staff and their communities on a daily basis.

Maybe, Principals are not “Dare to be Daniels”. Maybe they should have spoken out more about issues over the years and been more public in declaring their position on issues. (I can recall in the period prior to contracts becoming the norm that principals were far more confident when articulating their viewpoints on issues.) People on temporary contracts with no fallback position when they conclude, are hardly going to be robust when it comes to publicly countering declared and imposed government employment policy.

In the present bleak context it is to the credit of our Territory Principals and the NT Principals Association that they have taken a firm countering stance.

.

STORY TWO: THE FRUSTRATED STUDENT

Colin (not his actual name) was a Year Five student. He was send to my office with an exercise book sporting a severely crumpled and significantly torn page. With Colin and his book, came an accompanying note from his teacher. The class was practising persuasive text, a NAPLAN requirement at the time. With his class, had been practising day after day after day and he was fed up!

I sat down with Colin and his book and a dispenser of adhesive tape at my office conference table. While smoothing the page and refastening it into the book with tape, I spoke to Colin. It went like this:

“Colin, every year we have NAPLAN tests for year three and five students. We do some practice, especially for writing. You don’t like all the build-up to the tests. Guess what? Your teacher doesn’t like the tests, other students and teachers don’t like the tests and I don’t like the tests. A lot of people in the Education Department don’t like the tests. But Julia Gillard our Education Boss in the Australian Parliament and her boss Kevin Rudd the Prime Minister do like the tests. So we all have to suck it up and do the tests. That’s the way it is, so just do the tests like swallowing a medicine.”

Colin understood. There were no more tantrums and he kept ruffled feathers in check.

Students need to understand the issues that background these tests. My experience with Colin helped me understand that the issue of test ‘why’s and wherefores’ needed to be discussed with and understood by them. So the sharing of information including the reason for their existence, were things I discussed with students from there onwards.

Over the next few days, I have three little NAPLAN stories to share. They come from my years as a school principal.

STORY NUMBER ONE: THE GURU GIVES ADVICE

All principals were called to a meeting, to view one of the endless PowerPoints that has been developed around all manner of educational issues. This one was on preparing students for NAPLAN testing. The presentation went through frame after frame after frame of test questions at particular levels. We were told how classroom teachers might tackle ‘teaching the test’ to students, with the material presented being based on past tests.

At the end of this long presentation the presenter who was an educational guru, told we principals to absolutely prioritise preparation for upcoming NAPLAN tests. Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 teachers needed to set aside all other learning and activities in order to focus on preparing students for tests. The presenter had the imprimatur of the Education CEO to gives us this advice. It was NAPLAN or bust.

I could take no more. I made an appointment to see the CEO and told him what we had been told about his advice. The CEO was not happy about what had been stated on his behalf. He came into our meeting at a later time and told us all to ignore the advice.

Following a review in 2018 of the Northern Territory’s rather parlous financial situation, there were a number of recommendations made on the issue of restoring some financial stability.

One of the suggestions was that the Executive Contracts of 620 Executive Offices employed by the Northern Territory Government should be modified so that salary increments of 2.5% per annum were not applied for the next three years (2019 to 2021).

The Chief Minister’s Department and Michael Gunner personally “required“ that executive contract holders sign a waiver endorsing their willingness to forego these increments for the period suggested. In doing this it was inferred that these people were not necessarily “frontline“ workers.

The Northern Territory Principals Association Contract Principals quite legitimately objected, on the grounds principals are indeed frontline workers and that’s what their positions are all about.

Chief Minister Gunner is adamant that those principals who do not sign (the majority) will have further contracts adjusted to reflect the fact that they did not sign up for the increment freeze. Any contracts negotiated will be at the 2019 salary level.

I personally congratulate Principals and our Association for taking the stand maintained. It’s true to say that they have been well and truly supported by the Australian Education Union (NT) Branch and the Council of Government Schools Organisation.

Part of this has been my appreciation of and admiration for the Association being quite public about the issue.

It will be interesting to see where this happens to finish for at the moment there is no conclusion to the issue. In making these bold “requirements” without negotiation I believe the present government is presuming that it will be re-elected for a further four year term in 2020. Recent polls suggest that there is no guarantee this will be the case.

If an alternative government is elected in just under 12 months time, I wonder whether or not the increments that have been frozen for people who signed the waiver will be reinstated. Further, will those who haven’t signed the waiver have future contracts penalised under a different government regime.

There is a lot of water to go under the bridge on this issue in the months ahead.

In writing this blog I declare my life membership of the Northern Territory Principals Association.

Henry Gray

September 8 2019

MANAGING THE SECOND ICEBERG

The one tenth (or percentage) of positively focused work and learning oriented, focused and motivated students who are visible as the pride of schools, do a great deal as ambassadors to support and indeed to lift the profile of those schools. These are the students who encourage enrolments from parents looking for the best educational opportunities for their children.

A rather sad juxtaposition however is that students whose negative profiles are hidden from view seem to be ignored, with their poor behavioural and social practices being swept under the carpet. Too often it seems those responsible for school administration and leadership do not want to take the issues created by negative behaviours “by the horns” seeking a resolution. Thus the poor behaviour and the negative influence of the students lives on and becomes ingrained is a part of the school culture. While the negatives are somewhat trousered from public view, they significantly impact on other students and teachers. There are a plethora of studies and reams of Facebook statements that attest to this reality.

Historically speaking matters of student discipline may have been too harshly managed. However, aberrant behaviours and their dysfunctional outcomes were not ignored. It is unfortunate that so often those in charge of schools do not want to know about behavioural challenges and negative

manifestations that are part of student profiles.

Anecdotal stories in their thousands abound of teachers who have to manage students, keeping an awareness of disciplinary need away from the leadership teams of the schools. If teachers cannot cope they are deemed to be poor, inept and often a nuisance to their superordinates.

this whole situation is threatening to rebound very very negatively upon schools all over Australia. Everywhere, if posts are to be believed and studies to be accepted, there are teachers looking for “out” when it comes to teaching.The exodus is already impacting upon our schools and it is going to become a departure of massive proportion in the near future.

There is a problem to be fixed and the onus for that fixing rests on individual school administrators and leaders. To leave it go will add to the growing problems that I have outlined.

PERSPECTIVE ON NAPLAN IS NEEDED

PERSPECTIVE ON NAPLAN IS NEEDED

— Read on henrygrayblog.com/2019/09/05/perspective-on-naplan-is-needed/

NAPLAN PERSPECTIVE NEEDED

With the release of the 2019 NAPLAN results, education again enters a lengthy period of self-examination and study of outcomes. When results are released a prolonged annual period of data analysis commences. This continues for several months. Data as it applies at Australian, State and Territory level data is dissected. Regional analysis and minute examination of individual results at school level follows. Everything else about education seems to stand still, allowing this exercise to be pursued without interruption.

States and Territories are offered plaudits or brickbats depending on outcomes. School results are minutely analysed with the publication of results online at the “My Schools” website.

By the beginning of 2020 data analysis will be exhausted. Then it will be time to prepare for the May tests. Students in the testing years (three, five, seven and nine) will be subjected to trial testing programs aimed at getting them ready for the tests in May.

Of course schools are advised not to go overboard when it comes to testing readiness. However, with so much attaching to NAPLAN outcomes, this advice is rarely heeded. In actual fact, systems want their schools to do well so they compare favourably with their intra-territory and interstate counterparts. Systems also seek and value kudos based on test results.

The costs of saturating Australia’s educational system with NAPLAN must be mind-boggling. It’s probably not an overstatement to suggest that since 2008, when universal testing was introduced, hundred of millions of dollars have been poured into the program.

A major flaw is the interpretation of NAPLAN’s importance. The tests measure narrowly defined academic competencies of four student groups, at the same time each year. The rest of the year and the successes of all students seem to count for little. This testing with its academic focus seems to imply that holistic education is of little consequence. Teacher quality is spoken of in terms of teachers having the ability to prepare children for these tests. There should be more to quality education than fixation on testing regimes.

What of the students

I don’t know if anybody has thought to ask students what they think about this program. If they were to be asked, there might be some interesting, enlightening and eye-opening responses. I believe there would be little appreciation of the weeks and months of pre-test preparation many of them have to endure. A student forum on this program is well worth considering. Whether notice would be taken of their viewpoint altogether another matter.

The second iceberg-like distortion that has developed to be a part of education is poor student behaviour. Again it is a one tenth/ nine tenth situation.

Student behaviour seen or perceived by the public is that demonstrated by the students who are keen and eager to learn. These are the students who do their best at all times, working diligently and independently. These are the students who earn awards, who are top performers and a credit to their families and schools.

Within every school and below the surface (kept out of the line of visibility) are those (growing) numbers of students who in all honesty do not give a toss about where they are and what they doing. These are students requiring increasing disciplinary management programs. They are students either passive or active in terms of aberrant and dysfunctional behaviour in schools, who are not there by desire but by the necessity of regulations that they attend school until reaching the legislated leaving age.

They take up huge amounts of time Their teachers often vainly attempt to modify their behaviour, motivating them toward learning. All too often it is to no avail because the joy of these students is to upset others and disrupt learning opportunities of peers.

These days teachers spend 80 or 90% of the time disciplining and managing students. That leaves only a small amount of time available for meaningful teaching.

The ability of teachers to discipline students and to manage behaviour has eroded over time with control measures diminishing. At the same time the rights of students have come to the fore. Students rule schoolsAnd that is to the detriment of diminishment of education and far too many instances.

On officially and “under the table” teachers complain the same firstly about the way they are treated and about the hardships of teaching. I discussed this with each other and talk about it online. Student inertia is a part of primary and secondary schools both public and private.

The second iceberg is a reality of education and unfortunately this iceberg is not melting. If anything, it is growing and expanding and becoming more and more insidious as an educational manifestation.

This student context is a prime reason for why the joy of teaching quickly fades and explains why so many teachers leaving the profession.

EXTENDING THE ICEBERG THEORY (1)

Over time and through the years I have often thoughts and written about education as being like an iceberg. An iceberg shows one tenth of its dimensions above the water, with nine tenths remaining submerged. What one sees is not the whole iceberg but rather a small fraction of its icy mass.

Similarly, the role of teachers is one where a small fraction of what happens in classrooms is seen. What remains unseen is the research, planning and preparation that directs teaching. Assessment, recording, follow up paperwork which includes teaching tasks centred around revision, extension, report writing and ongoing preparation of work units remains unseen. Meetings, inservice requirements, moderation tasks and performance management planning is also invisible to the general school community.

Countless hours of time are devoted to the elements of the teaching role that surround teaching. Before and after school time, weekends, large slabs of stand-down time and holiday periods are devoted to the myriad of tasks and demands surrounding teaching.

It’s the ‘structural’ iceberg element which detracts from the functions that should embrace teaching and learning in our classrooms. But now, somewhat by stealth, there is another iceberg.

And that iceberg is pointing toward unmitigated educational disaster.

If the school has rules about particular issues and things, those rules need to be enforced. If the school has no intention of enforcing particular rules, then those rules should not be stated in the first place.

Rules on paper that are not enacted make a mockery of school policies and suggest that school administrators and leaders are not serious.

Possibly the most common school rule not enforced relates to mobile telephones. Many schools have rules saying that mobile phones cannot be brought to school, or if they are they must stay in bags. They cannot be used during the school day and are particularly embargoed during recess and lunchtimes in the school yard.

Yet it seems that this rule is one frequently overlooked . Students use their mobile telephones and all too frequently. In class they engage in social media contact rather than paying attention to instruction and being diligent about their work assignments. Phones are all too often out and about in the hands of owners in the schoolyard, filming “happenings“ that can be shared with others on social media.

The rule about not having mobile phones is an important one for without these devices students remain more focussed and less likely or inclined to encourage miscreant schoolyard behaviour that can be filmed and shared.

Rule is not a rule unless enforced. Consider carefully when developing rules to make sure that they are going to be applied . Unless this happens, the rule makes a mockery of the school.

THOUGHTS FOR PRESERVICE AND BEGINNING TEACHERS (54)

I strongly disagree with the tenet that handwriting is a redundant skiill. Sure, technology means keyboard skills are up and coming (although by the hunt and peck method rather than by touch typing.)

Not being engaged in empirical research disallows me from responding other than by comment. But as a school principal for over 40  years before retiring I came to deplore the lack of skill by students when it came to producing the written word by pen or pencil.  Pride in bookwork largely became a thing of the past and fluency with handwriting a sad lack. 

I always praised and recognised students who made an effort when it came to handwriting and script production. That included margins, using a ruler for underlining and crossing out neatly.  While having to go with modern methodologies and priorities which de-emphasise traditional skills, I nevertheless made an effort in that direction.

I believe it true to say that many teachers and schools downplay handwriting because it is not some exciting and new fangled initiative. It is however a skill that should never ever be lost, but is fast vanishing from the repertoire and skills base of students.

On private ands public schools

I was a principal of government schools in WA and the NT (rural/remote, town and city) for 40 years of my teaching career. I am a great respecter of the contribution made by both Catholic and Independent schools to the education of our children.

 I don’t like the notion of contestation between public and private because that does not help us remember that “schools are for children”.

For years I have deplored the fact that the function of education is often subverted to and lost within the machinations of structure. I often wish this was not the case for it can be quite ruinous of the overall efforts we made toward the brining up of children and students. 

For me, regardless of ‘public’ or ‘private’ the most important thing about education is to look at the holistic development of our clients, the children and students of today who are the leaders of tomorrow’s world.

We ought never forget or overlook the importance and need for the social, emotional and moral/spiritual development of young people.

Neither should we neglect the essences of primary communication – listening and speaking (and of course reading and correct writing). Let us keep the key essences of education.